Cocoon Recordings' very own "best of" series presents the next issue which is again simply called by the number of the release-order. So it's number nine, this time ("Neun"). Sven Väth has once again chosen Chris Tietjen to compile and mix the pearls of the last Cocoon Recordings releases. Tietjen started as a young gun in Väth's Cocoon Booking agency and developed into a proper club DJ. He even released his first solo 12" on Cocoon Recordings in 2012 which marked his final arrival in the techno business. Tietjen's progression as a DJ is clearly noticeable here as he laid down a very elegant and smooth overall mix. He starts the journey with two Matt John and one Minilogue track, which creates a very moody and warm introduction. The transition into the following part can be seen as a kind of "warm up" one would like to hear in a good techno club. Next in the mix are Adam Port, Popof (Animal & Me) and Nick Curly, who step by step feed the mix with more energy. From minute 22 onwards, the mix starts to kick in and the bass-cabinets of your speakers should definitely move stronger now. Pele & Shawnecy, Sante & Frank, André Galluzzi & Dana Ruh are the following names in the mix and together with the next track by Mauro Picotto & Riccardo Ferri, we have four strong collaborations. It seems the "techno duet" is the new way to create cool club music these days. The ending section is based on tracks by wAFF, Julien Bracht, Temma Teje, Uner and Mind Against and it is the dignified counterpart to the elegant beginning. Tietjen manages to swing out as smooth as he started the mix. To cut a long story short: Neun turns out to be a very nice overview of what has happened over the last months in the Cocoon Recordings universe and it definitely calls out for more.

Cocoon presents the eighth edition of the Cocoon in-house mix CD series. Just as with its predecessors, Chris Tietjen was responsible for selecting and mixing the tracks, being deeply ingrained in Cocoon since his teenage days. And even more than with its predecessors, Tietjen manages to draw a big line and to reconcile the sometimes very heterogeneous Cocoon Recordings releases. The great gap that techno fans might see between tracks by Stefanik, Ambivalent, and Secret Cinema is skillfully bridged in the mix by Tietjen's combination of tracks, and is even beneficial for the flow of the mix. This diversion is typical for Cocoon: a lot of variety within the set, using only musical material from one single label, without ever losing the tension. Of course, Stefanik's contributions and the tracks by Mark Broom or Maetrik stand out a little bit, but this is also a sign of a good mix: to find the right proportion between a fluent passage and similar styles on the hand and variety on the other. To stay in the flow but never become monotonous. That's why the eighth edition of this in-house mix CD series is fully dedicated to the label's philosophy and to all the Cocoon DJs' philosophy who defy all these "Style-DJs" and their loop techno and Ableton monotony, but rather bring in their sets great variety and a wide range of music. These sets all have a special stamp and bear the hallmarks of their DJs, but they still manage -- just as the other Cocoon mix CDs -- to bring different styles together and this is probably why they appear so timeless... when you listen to them again, many years later. Other artists include: Sawlin, Ilario Alicante & Todd Bodine, André Galluzzi & Dana Ruh, Christian Burkhardt, Sian, Secret Cinema & Peter Horrevorts, Ambivalent, Doomwork, Markus Fix, and Ricardo Villalobos.

Chris Tietjen presents the 341 EP, a deep bow before three of the most important protagonists of the Rhein Main house scene. "Activ," which was composed together with Markus Fix celebrates a deepness that is on the one hand accented by LFO bass lines and a jazzy, sketchy lightness, but on the other hand, still pushes forward at maximum. On "Just Happens," Tietjen collaborates with Frank Heinrich before teaming up with Ricardo Villalobos, combining a suggestive effect with rhythmic textures and precisely thumping bass.

The itchy seventh year can obviously do no harm to Chris Tietjen. With his usual aplomb, the DJ from Frankfurt compiles the gems of the last twelve months of Cocoon Recordings into a fulminant tour de force, and once again, it's not until this 77-minute-long overall picture that it becomes clear how many superb club moments have accumulated in the Cocoon record case in the past year. Of course, Maetrik's dark and deep particle house "Crush On Me" plays a significant role here, but also Nick Curly's analog bass-driven hi-energy attack "Sun City" was ranked quite high in 2011's reader's charts in Groove Magazine. Besides that, we find Pele's dub tech monster out of Rosenheim ("Nothing Else"), the thrilling rework of Guy Gerber's classic "Timing" by the two Athens-based DJs Kassey Voorn and Pete McCarthy, Dinky's surprisingly dirty and song-like declaration of love from the K compilation ("Lovin") and, of course, the Ibiza anthem 2011 by Boys Noize ("Adonis") can't be ignored here, too. Tietjen's special DJ quality is once again obvious in his habitually unpretentious DJ mix that nevertheless always has the arc of suspense in focus and respectfully leaves the tracks the compositional air to breathe but gives you the final kick right through the combination of the tracks. And this is exactly the reason why Tietjen has turned from a promising newcomer from the Rhein-Main area to one of the most formative DJs in Europe. Other artists include: Ross Evana, Ilario Alicante, Santé & Frank Lorber, Christian Burkhardt & Einzelkind, youANDme, Junyamabe and David August.

Even if no other contemporary music style is as consistently searching for new sound horizons as electronic dance music does, in the end, the tradition of series within these constant developments provides us with well-known structures from the house of Cocoon. Thirty years of lived DJ culture, 11 years of label history and the sixth mix compilation by Chris Tietjen are events that need to be celebrated in 2011. The 26-year-old Frankfurter has been an essential part of the Cocoon family since 2005 and his annual compilation is on the one hand a most welcome definition of the state of modern tech house, and on the other hand, shows his own personal development from promising Rhein Main newcomer to one of the most influential DJs in Europe. In the true sense of Cocoon's publicized aesthetics of the DJ as a mediator of visions apart from the Sync button, Tietjen presents a journey through the last 12 months of Cocoon Recordings. And, once again, the acoustic cornucopia is full to bursting, containing tracks by Loco Dice, Dubfire, Phil Kieran, Christian Burkardt and many more: from the pop ambient of Fabric resident DJ Arnaud Le Texier ("Elusanes" Beatless Version), Tietjen dives into the depths of dub with Moritz Von Oswald's "Cocoon Dark Dub" before the Vision Quest remix of Dinky's "Acid In My Fridge" sets the tone to a more club-esque format. What follows is yet again a tour de force through modern techno where anything goes, from percussive reduction (Johannes Heil's "The Ace - Butch Remix"), noise-heavy deep tech house (Maetrik's "Snorkel"), winding and harmonic Detroit techno (2000 And One's "Tropical Melon - Tim Green Remix") up to an almost Balearic emotional overflow towards the finale (Chymera's "Pump"; Johannes Heil's "Twentythree") -- a picturesque and more than inspiring kaleidoscope of modern electronic music. Other artists include: Argy, Kule Runner, Pan-Pot, Paul Ritch, Psycatron & Paul Woolford, Harrison Crump, Reboot and Chymera.

Chris Tietjen releases his fifth mix of the best of recent 12" vinyl output from the Cocoon Recordings label. After Chris Tietjen, still a youngster in 2006, had compiled the label's best tracks of 2006 on the CD Eins (CORMIX 014CD) and thus offered a review of 22 12"s, Tietjen now presents Fünf, on the occasion of Cocoon's 10th anniversary. Every year, Chris compiles his personal Cocoon highlights in a musical cross-section and each time he produces a very unique mix of the best Cocoon dancefloor bombs of the past 12 months. Chris, who is now resident of his own night "Loaded" at Sven Väth's homebase Cocoonclub Frankfurt, has now put together the best tracks of 2009 and assembles artists from the likes of Egbert, Tiefschwarz, Electric Rescue, Alex Flatner & Lopazz, Tim Green, Nick Curly, Stefan Goldmann, Julian Jeweil, Extrawelt, Len Faki or Yousef in this mix, including a remix by Ed Davenport.

Chris Tietjen releases his fourth mix of the best of recent 12" vinyl output from the Cocoon Recordings label. Tietjen has been a key member of the Cocoon family since 2005, and with his Next Generation series at CocoonClub Frankfurt, he has established one of the most important creative pools for upcoming DJ talents; besides that, he regularly provides listeners with one of the most crucial musical determinations of contemporary techno. The characteristic elements of Tietjen's understanding of DJ skills stress intensive bass lines and driving percussions, but also reveal a respect for the arrangement of the individual tracks. Martin Buttrich, Schneider & Galluzzi, Guy Gerber, Tiefschwarz, Reboot, Adam Proll and Timo Maas undisputedly belong to the group of artists who have enhanced the world of electronic dance music. In his terrific mix, Tietjen also focuses on the releases of Swedish duo Minilogue whose CD/DVD album Animals is one of the most successful releases on Cocoon and thus is represented here with three tracks (among them remixes by Dubfire and Tolga Fidan). And when Tietjen briefly reduces the tempo after Timo Maas' brute tribal masterpiece "Subtellite," only to continue with the Sven Väth classic (and one of the hits in the last season) "The Beauty & the Beast" in a remix by Eric Prydz, one definitely gets an impression of Chris Tietjen's masterful skills as a DJ. Other artists include: Inxec vs. Matt Tolfrey and Florian Schirmacher.

For the third time now, Chris Tietjen compiles the best Cocoon releases of the year on one CD, providing a mix that summarizes the party highlights of the past year perfectly. With three artist albums, the Compilation G and numerous 12"s, Cocoon again set standards in 2007 and is also planning a lot for 2008. Besides the year's big hits (Argy's "Unreliable Virgin," Martin Buttrich's "Hunter" or Beroshima's "Horizon"), Chris has also included some flip-side pearls (Lucio Aquilina's "My Cube" and Phonogenic's "Alpha Blend") on the CD, delivering an impeccable 70-minute set that elegantly steps on the border between house and techno. Nonchalantly, he opens with Martin Buttrich's "Hunter," continues with shooting star Lucio Aquilina and develops a driving and groovy atmosphere with Pig&Dan's "Sly Detector," which marks an emotional highlight before he closes the mix with Adam Proll's "Elevator," Joel Mull's "Harmonautic String" and Jacek Sienkiewicz's "Good Luck." A very atmospheric and competently made mix with carefully chosen highlights.

A CD containing the best of the current Cocoon releases, compiled and mixed smoothly by CocoonClub's Next Generation host, Chris Tietjen. Chris has advanced steadily since his CD debut and without a doubt belongs to the top league of young tech house and minimal DJs. Chris has developed into one of Cocoon's best ambassadors and is a popular DJ who is capable of reflecting the Cocoon vibe and transporting the Frankfurt mood to the clubs. Over the last twelve months, the Cocoon Recordings crew has written another chapter of the German tech house book. With releases by Loco Dice, Dominik Eulberg or by shooting stars like Guy Gerber and Pig & Dan, Cocoon have celebrated some of the biggest records of 2006. From this crop, Tietjen has included Gerber's "Sea of Sand," Eulberg's "Bionik" and Loco Dice's "Carthago," as well as absolute high-flyers Fuckaponydelic and their smasher, "Switch the Lights." Zwei continues where the first label revue Eins had stopped and will be anticipated particularly by fans and clubbers who don't have a record player anymore but have not completely switched to mp3 yet. In this spirit... we feel the bassline! Also including Shlomi Aber, Adam Proll, Extrawelt, Adam Beyer and David K.

Five years for Cocoon Recordings, that makes twenty-two 12"s, fourteen mix-CDs and five label compilations. Cocoon youngster Chris Tietjen went about compiling the best tracks of the Cocoon Recordings 12"s into a veritable musical cross-section. The result is a unique mix which contains pieces from recent times (Roman Flügel, Dinky, Oliver Koletzki) as well as tracks from the start of the label (Frank Lorber, Glove, Legowelt). Chris Tietjen's style alternates between groovy tech house and hypnotic minimal sounds, but one can also find driving techno tunes in his record case. However, his sound is not easy to describe, and his sets are always full of surprises and guarantee many hours of frenzy. Featuring artists: J. Sienkiewicz, Glove, Ingo Boss, Dinky, Pig & Dan, Roman Flügel, D. Eulberg, Anthony Rother, Oliver Koletzki, David K, Väth vs. Rother, Legowelt and Frank Lorber.